Campus threats forced lockdowns and evacuations at universities and grade schools in nine states yesterday, a day after a Virginia Tech student's shooting rampage killed 33 persons, including himself. Threats in Louisiana and Montana directly mentioned the massacre in Virginia, while others were reports of suspicious activity in Arizona, Michigan, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas. In Louisiana, parents picked up hundreds of students from Bogalusa's high school and middle school because of reports that a man had been arrested for threatening a mass killing in a note that alluded to the carnage at Virginia Tech. Schools Superintendent Jerry Payne said both schools were locked down and police arrested a 53-year-old man who purportedly made the threat in a note he gave to a student headed to the private Bowling Green School in Franklinton. Both towns are in southeastern Louisiana.... http://www.washingtontimes.com

Defense Secretary Robert Gates called Wednesday on the Iraqi government to speed its efforts to reach a political solution to its sectarian strife.Gates, speaking to the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, said some that while some progress had been made toward reconciliation it has not been fast enough.A political solution could come quickly, Gates said, pointing out that there are not "thousands in the street" in Iraq trying to kill each other. The violence is mostly confined to death squads, al-Qaeda terrorists and former members of Iraq's ruling class, the Baath party."These are not mass movements," he said.In a speech to the chamber, Gates warned that failure in Iraq would spill over its borders....http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-04-18-gates_N.htm?csp=34

A U.S.-led coalition convoy hit and killed a boy in Kabul, while Afghan and coalition forces arrested five suspected Al Qaeda in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday.Acting on intelligence, the joint forces arrested the "Al Qaeda associates" during a raid on a compound in Nangarhar province's Chaparhar district, a coalition statement said. It said no shots were fired and no serious injuries reported.On Tuesday in Kabul, a coalition convoy was passing through a bazaar when the boy stepped into the road from behind a large truck, a coalition statement said. The convoy stopped to provide first aid and the boy was evacuated for medical care, but died of his injuries, it said.In the volatile south, gunmen kidnapped Habib Rahman, the agriculture department director of Zabul province, as he was traveling by car from neighboring Ghazni province on Tuesday, said Ali Shah Ahmadzai, Ghazni's police chief....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,266717,00.html

Iran's army will "cut off the hand" of any attacker and is at the ready to fulfil its defensive duties, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday during an annual military parade.Iran is embroiled in a row with the West over its nuclear ambitions. The United States, which says Iran is trying to build an atomic bomb, has said it wants a diplomatic resolution to the standoff but has not ruled out military action if that fails."The army stands against any aggressor and will cut off its hand," the president said in a televised address before a parade involving troops, tanks, missiles and other military hardware.He made a similar remark in last year's annual ceremony saying Iran would "cut off the hands of any aggressors." Written above the president's podium were the words: "Peaceful nuclear technology is a fundamental and basic need for our country."...http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/04/18/iran.army.reut/index.html?eref=rss_world

Virginia Tech police chased a fruitless lead in the early-morning murders of two students at a dormitory, halting school officials from sending out a warning about a possible gunman on the loose for two hours, according to search warrants and police statements, The New York Times reported Wednesday. Just hours after the dorm killings, 30 people were ruthlessly shot dead by a student gunman, 23-year-old English major Cho Seung-Hui. While investigating the murders of freshman Emily Jane Hilscher and Ryan Clark, a senior and resident adviser at Ambler Johnston Hall, police began searching for a man believed to be Hilscher's boyfriend, a student at nearby Radford University, the Times reported. Police interviewed Karl Thornhill, who Hilscher's roommate said owned guns and had been together with her at a shooting range, according to the documents. As Thornhill was interviewed, police received reports of the murders at the Norris Hall classroom building, the paper said. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/18/virginiatechshooting/main2697886.shtml?source=RSSattr=U.S._2697886

Two Secret Service officers were injured after a gun held by another Secret Service officer accidentally fired inside the White House gate, according to a spokesman, Darrin Blackford.Their injuries are non-life threatening, the spokesman said.One officer suffered a shrapnel wound to the face, and the other was wounded in the leg.They were taken to George Washington Hospital.At the time, President George W Bush was on a trip to Blacksburg, Virginia, to attend a ceremony at Virginia Tech university following yesterday's shooting rampage."It appears that at approximately 2.10pm (0410 AEST) there was an accidental discharge of a service issued weapon, which occurred inside the Southwest Gate at a security post near the White House," Blackford said.Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House, Lafayette Park across the street from the White House and other nearby walkways were all shut down to pedestrian traffic due to the incident....http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/agent-shoots-colleagues-in-white-house/2007/04/18/1176696868706.html